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Are Hologram Tupac and Hologram Freddie Mercury Nostalgia or New Aesthetic?
>> MIKE: Here’s an idea: Hologram pop stars Freddie Mercury and Tupac Shakur are the heralds of a new art movement. theme A few weeks ago rapper Tupac Shakur came back from the dead and performed at Coachella as a hologram. And if you’re not a Tupac fan, don’t worry because apparently this is now a thing that we do. Just last week Queen’s astrophysics lead guitar player Brian May announced that they would be going on tour with a hologram version of Freddie Mercury. singing And it sounds like we’re going to hologram Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and who knows what other pop stars we’re going to bring back from the dead. I’m pretty sure that last one is still alive... Alright, so at first glance this seems like nostalgia. Maybe the light rays and the foil screen dohickies that are mimicking our passed pop stars, our idorus, aren’t a product of an obsession with nostalgia but an obsession with turning everything new, everything digital, even the past. Okay, so if it’s not nostalgia then what it is? A couple weeks ago on the internets there was a lot of talk about something called New Aesthetic. There were a lot of people, artists, bloggers, actually mostly just artists and bloggers... wanting to call this the newest movement in the art world. And of course, just as many people wanting to call it bull- beep Internet fight! New Aesthetic is essentially an art movement that tries to ignore the past and imagine a new future based only on the present. And the trough line of all of these works is technology. sound: ding As we view the world more and more through sometimes pixelly, sometimes hyperaccurate, and occasionally not human at all lense of technology, it only makes sense that that point of view starts to find its way into our creative endeavors. Are QR Code decorated cakes New Aesthetic? Probably. ding What about about this quilt made to look like a section of Google Maps? Seems like it. ding Seeing a performance given by a technologically resurrected hologram pop star? Definitely. ding When new technologies don’t reference old techniques, when low tech craft meets high tech tools, this is essentially New Aesthetic. According to James Bridle, the man who coined New Aesthetic, it’s about separating itself from the past, providing an alternative to nostalgia. When you think about it, are you really seeing Tupac? Left Eye’s voice might be coming out of speakers, but is she really there? Or is it something completely different? It might seem like nostalgia, but it’s not. Going to go see a hologram pop star is an entirely new experience. When you really consider it, Hologram Tupac is so much closer to Miku Hatsune than he is to Real Tupac. It is essentially a piece of art that cannot be separated from the technology used to create it. And that is New Aesthetic. What do you guys think? Are hologram pop stars nostalgia or New Aesthetic? Let us know in the comments. And if you subscribe, I will love you forever. <3 There are some devoted Hello Kitty fans out there. Let’s see what you guys had to say: shadowmanwkp was a little miffed that we didn’t mention Miffy... Sorry shadowman, but a little creepy... DaThings1 makes a really good point about the Hello Kitty animated series maybe failing because Hello Kitty had a mouth. Also: Tara Strong mention. We actually thought about logos, samos123, so we’re glad that you mentioned it. … … … Thanks Tricia! Tricia and I are bros in real life, so it’s cool. You know who has two thumbs and loves Hello Kitty? Lots of guys, I’m sure. Also me, also this guy. samy... samy... Just keep at it, buddy. Someday... If there were a comic serif, we would use it, but there’s no, you know... Also to everyone who’s been saying really nice things about us and the show in the comments, we appreciate it SO much. So thank you so much for being supportive and being awesome. theme And one more thing: Fragamacrunch. Category:English Category:Complete